You Looked Down on Me Once Now You Look Up (Patricia and Oliver) novel Chapter 590

“Patricia, right? Come on in. You must be exhausted from the trip.”

Patricia had never met anyone here before. As Lydia took her hand and led her inside, Patricia shot a nervous look at Oliver.

He spoke up from behind, his tone cool and casual. “My mom.”

His mother, Lydia, heard the half-hearted introduction and gave him a look. “You brat.”

Patricia opened her mouth, wanting to call her “Mom,” but the word just wouldn’t come out. It wasn’t really her fault—she hadn’t called anyone that in over ten years. It felt weird and stuck in her throat.

Lydia didn’t let go of her hand, chatting warmly as she walked Patricia in. First she scolded Oliver for being so thoughtless—getting married and not even bringing his wife home. Then she switched to apologizing, saying everything had been so rushed and she wished she’d had more time to prepare.

After a minute, Lydia asked Miles to grab something from the bedroom. When he came back, he handed Patricia a satin box.

“It was all last minute. I didn’t have time to get you a proper welcome gift. There’s a bank card inside, along with some jewelry.”

Patricia’s first instinct was to refuse. “This is too much...”

Lydia just smiled, patting her hand to stop her. “Sweet girl, you didn’t even get a wedding. That’s already unfair. And Oliver—he never does things the right way. Didn’t even handle the engagement properly. This little bit is nothing.”

“Just take it,” Oliver said quietly from the side.

Patricia thanked them and accepted the box.

Seeing her holding the gift, Oliver smirked. “You’ve got your presents. All that’s left is to call her ‘Mom.’”

Lydia looked at him, half in shock. “Who makes their wife call their mother ‘Mom’ the first time she’s here?”

“You really are a piece of work,” she said, shaking her head at Oliver.

Suddenly, Patricia remembered what Sara had told her: “You seriously don’t need to worry about Grandma not liking you. If Uncle Oliver actually gets married, Grandma would be over the moon.”

She knew exactly what Emerson was up to. He was hoping to see someone. If Tina went, things would only get worse for her.

“Got it,” Jackson replied, sounding tense.

Back in the living room, Oliver and Miles were still talking.

Oliver noticed Patricia step out of the dining room, quietly taking her call by the doorway.

Miles followed his gaze. “Riverdale’s a total mess right now, and she still found time to come to Golden Bay? Did you put any pressure on her?”

He’d never met Patricia in person, but he’d been keeping tabs. In a family like theirs, you always worried about someone—a son, daughter-in-law, a grandkid—doing something wild or out of control. And because he didn’t know Patricia, he was even more careful.

Oliver looked over at his dad, not surprised that Miles knew what was going on with Patricia. As long as his dad didn’t cross the line, Oliver could deal with it.

“No, I didn’t pressure her. I haven’t even told her what’s going on here—I didn’t want her to worry. Coming to Golden Bay was her choice.”